Realogy Corp., which owns real estate firms Coldwell Banker, Century 21 and ERA, will relocate its corporate headquarters from Parsippany to a Madison site seven miles away, the company announced yesterday.

Realogy’s current lease expires in 2013, and the company will move into a new, environmentally friendly facility on a 15-acre site on Park Avenue in Madison as soon as late 2012. The company considered locations in other states, but chose to stay in New Jersey because of financial incentives it received from the state Economic Development Authority and efforts by the Christie administration, said president and CEO Richard Smith.

"We are pleased to make this long-term commitment to stay in New Jersey, and we thank Gov. Christie, Lt. Gov. Guadagno and their administration for accommodating our long-term needs," said Smith said in a statement. "Madison is going to be a terrific headquarters location for us, and 175 Park Ave. is very near to the geographic epicenter of our employee population."

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority awarded Realogy a $10.7 million Business Retention and Relocation Assistance Grant and a $1.4 million sales tax exemption for equipment and site improvements, said spokeswoman Erin Gold. The incentives are tied to Realogy keeping 953 jobs in New Jersey, she added.

The Morristown-based Hampshire Companies is developing an existing structure into a new 270,000-square-foot building that is designed to meet certain green building certification standards, according to a news release. The new headquarters will house employees from the Realogy franchise brands, including Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, Century 21, Coldwell Banker, ERA and Sotheby’s International Realty.

The new tenant will be a welcome addition in Madison, said Mayor Mary-Anna Holden. In the last year, Hampshire Companies was originally designing the site for another tenant, but the deal fell through, Holden said. Before that, the building served as a Verizon call center and storage facility for switching equipment, but the telecom left two years ago.

"It’ll be nice to turn something that’s a non-ratable into something that can be a very valuable ratable," Holden said. "It’s going to be a very quality addition to our corporate community in Madison."